Dear Parish Family, this is a reflection I found on line. I
hope it brings joy and hope to all of our Mothers. Today I
remember my own Mother who passed away in August of
2000. I’m so grateful for all that she sacrificed for me, be-
cause I know I am the person I am today because of the love
and care she so generously shared with me… Wishing all of
our Mothers a blessed day!! My love and prayers always,
~~Fr. Steve


Mothering is a mystery which is caught up in the great
mystery of God’s loving plan for the whole world.


Each year on Mother’s Day, as we express the gratitude
we feel for our earthly mother, I am increasingly drawn to
reflect on that last gift the Lord gave to us before His total gift
of Himself on the Cross, the gift of His mother to be our own.
May is the month dedicated to Mary, the Mother of the Lord.
This is no coincidence.


Jesus called her Mother. As one of His last and greatest
gifts to His beloved disciple and to the entire Church, He en-
trusted her with these tender words recorded in the Gospel of
John: When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple there
whom He loved, He said to His mother, Woman, behold, your
son. Then He said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And
from that hour the disciple took her into His home. (John
19:26, 27)


Mary was there at the Incarnation, Birth, Crucifixion,
and Resurrection of God Incarnate. She was there throughout
the often called hidden years in Nazareth. In the life of the
Redeemer, every word and every act was redemptive, reveal-
ing the very life of God, the mystery of heaven touching
earth, and the deeper purpose of our own lives. She was there
in those moments whose impact is timeless. They are still as
filled with the invitation of grace today as they were when
they first occurred. She was – she is – Mother.


She was there on the great day of Pentecost, the birthday
of the Church, which we will soon celebrate. She was there as
the first evangelizer and disciple, as she gave the first Chris-
tian testimony to her cousin, Elizabeth, and won the first con-
vert in utero in the person of John the Baptist. This event,
traditionally called The Visitation, is recorded in the Gospel
of St. Luke (Luke l: 39-45). We meditate upon it in the prayer
called the Rosary.

That encounter immediately followed the visit of the Angel
Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:6-38) and is one of the fruits of her
humble obedient response. That response was not a onetime
reaction. It was the fruit of a life of surrendered love and
stretched forward to characterize her whole life on this earth
and her participation in the eternal communion of Saints.


Her Fiat (Latin, let it be done), given in response to the visit-
ation from the messenger of heaven, the angel, provides a
way to live for each one of us. Mary said Yes to the invitation
to love and she humbled herself. She confronted her own
fears and she entered into a way of living. All of this in con-
tinued response to an original invitation of love, a gift, initiat-
ed by a loving God.